BH

Beginner Level Kabbalah

TheDevelopmentofKabbalahinLightofItsMainTexts
from Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh

Kabbalah: The Union of Wisdom and Prophecy

Thenumericalvalueofthewordkabbalah()inHebrewis137.Surprisinglythisis oneofthemostimportantnumberstodayinmodernphysics.Asapure(dimensionless1) number it is known as the inverse of the fine structure constant and expresses an importantpropertyofspacerelatedtocreation. 137isalsothevalueofthesumoftwoveryimportantwordsthatrelatetoKabbalah: wisdom () equals 73 and prophecy () equals 64. Kabbalah can therefore be understoodastheunion(ormarriage)ofwisdomandprophecy. Historically, Kabbalah developed out of the prophetic tradition that existed in JudaismuptothesecondTempleperiod(beginninginthe4thcenturyBCE).Thoughthe prophetic spirit that had dwelt in the prophets continued to hover above the Jewish people, it was no longer manifest directly. Instead, the spirit of wisdom manifested the Divine in the form of the Oral Torah (the oral tradition), the body of Rabbinic knowledge that began developing in the second Temple period and continues to this day. The meeting of wisdom (the mind, intellect) and prophecy (the spirit which still remains)andtheirunioniswhatproducesanddefinestheessenceofKabbalah. In the Kabbalistic conceptual scheme, wisdom corresponds to the sefirah of wisdom,otherwiseknownastheFatherprinciple(Abba) andprophecycorresponds to the sefirah of understanding or the Mother principle (Ima). Wisdom and understanding are described in the Zohar as two companions that never part. Thus, Kabbalah represents the union of wisdom and prophecy in the collective Jewish soul; wheneverwestudyKabbalah,theinnerwisdomoftheTorah,werevealthisunion. It is important to clarify that Kabbalah is not a separate discipline from the traditional study of the Torah, it is rather the Torahs inner soul (nishmata deorayta, in thelanguageoftheZoharandtheArizal). Oftentimes a union of two things is represented in Kabbalah as an acronym composed of their initial letters. In this case, wisdom in Hebrew starts with the letter

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chet prophecy begins with the letter nun; so their acronym spells the Hebrew word chen, which means grace, in the sense of beauty. Grace in particular refers to symmetric beauty, i.e., the type of beauty that we perceive in symmetry. This observationtiesinwiththefactthattheinnerwisdomoftheTorah,Kabbalahisreferred to as chochmat hachen, which we would literally translate as the wisdom of chen. Chen here is an acronym for another two words: concealed wisdom () . But, following our analysis here, Kabbalah is called chen because it is the union of wisdom andprophecy. Because it comprises both wisdom and prophecy, Kabbalah, the inner soul of the Torah is best suited to provide us with a vision of the perfected, utopian future that the world will enjoy once the Mashiach is revealed. Studying Kabbalah provides us both at the individual and the collective levels with the consciousness and strength of character needed to envision this future, and work towards it even during the greatest hours of darkness.

The Evolution of Kabbalah

In general there are 5 stages in the revelation of the wisdom of Kabbalah, each stage appearing (one might say, even encoded) within a particular text. Kabbalah analyzes everything in our world, especially those things that explicitly relate to the Torah, according to prefigured basic models that derive from an indepth study of the Torah. Naturally, these five stages are significant and should be analyzed based on the five ascendinglevelsofthesoul. *Psyche(nefesh) *Spirit(ruach) *Soul(neshamah)intellectualdimension *Thelivingone(chayah)superrationalconnectionofthesoultoGod *Thesingularone(yechidah)isonewithGod,(describedasthesingularonethat marks You [God] as singular, ) . This level gives the power for total self sacrifice,becauseitisalwaysonewithGod,whetherembodiedonearthornot.

Stage One: The Book of Formation

The text revealing the first stage that corresponds to the psyche level of the soul is Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Formation). Jewish tradition attributes the wisdom in this text to the first Jew, Abraham. Lengthwise, it is a relatively short text, and most of its content appears in enigmatic phrases; it appears clear from its language that it indeed has very ancient roots. Explicitly, this means that the wisdom contained in The Book of

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Formation antedates the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. Nonetheless, traditionally, the final edition of the book as it has come down to us was compiled in the generation before the destruction of the Second Temple (1st century CE) by the greatest sage of the Tannaic (Mishnah) period, Rabbi Akiva. Rabbi Akiva was also the master and teacher of RabbiShimonbarYochai,theauthoroftheZohar,literallyTheBookofBrilliance.

Stage Two: The Zohar

Unlike The Book of Formation, the Zohar, the text revealing the second stage of Kabbalah, is a very large one. Its content is primarily structured as an interpretation of the Bible in general and the Pentateuch, in particular. The Zohar, though using what is normally less enigmatic language than the Book of Formation, is structurally varied. Some of the content appears as storytelling, some of it as an indepth analysis of higher worlds, the reality of sefirot, the way in which the sefirot develop into partzufim (lit., persona)2 spiritual personas3 of the higher worlds, and so on. There are some parts of the Zohar (like the Idra Rabbah and Idra Zuta), which remained almost completely incomprehensible until the Arizal (16th century CE) shed light shed on them (more on theArizalinthefourthstage).Inthecompletecorpusofthemanywritingsthatmakeup the Torah, the Zohar is considered a midrasha homiletic or hermeneutic discourse on the Torah.4 Sometimes the Zohar is even referred to as Midrash Rashbi, Rashbi being the acronymofitsauthorsname:RabbiShimonbarYochai. ThoughoriginallycomposedbyRabbiShimonbarYochaiinthe2ndcenturyCE,the Zohar was not openly published for another 1200 years. During the interim, it was passedfrommentortodisciple.Athinginits[proper]timeisgood,5andsuchwasthe public revelation of the Zohar. Immediately upon its revelation, the Zohar spread throughout the Jewish world of learning, and many of the Kabbalistic scholars began to try to unlock its secrets, by properly interpreting its myriad of allusions and metaphors. This went on for almost 200 years, until this process reached its zenith with the work of RabbiMosheCordovero(15221570),knownbyhisacronym,theRamak.

Three: The Pomegranate Orchard

The Ramaks work represents the third stage of the evolution of Kabbalah. His interpretation of the Zohar was based on a rational mindset (not very different from the mindset used in explaining other Midrashic literature; see note 3) and a wide and circumspect knowledge of the entire Torah in all its strata exoteric (revealed) and esoteric (hidden) alike. The Ramaks commentary on the Zohar, titled Or Yakar, is tremendous in its scope, spanning dozens of large volumes. But, his magnum opus was

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thevolume titled ThePomegranateOrchard(PardesRimonim), based on what is perhaps one of the most enigmatic verses in the entire Bible: Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranateswithpleasantfruits,hennaandnard. This verse is fromthe Songof Songs, a poetic and metaphoric descriptionof thelove between a bride and her groom. Even though all the sages of the Talmudic period knew about and were involved in the study of Kabbalah, the Talmud does not openly delve into its mysteries. However, there is one chapter dedicated to this topic: the second chapter of the tractate of Chagigah. There, the sages who were initiated into the study of Kabbalah are described as having entered the Pardes, the orchard. The Hebrew word pardes is also understood in Kabbalah to be an acronym for the four parts of the Torah: literal, allusive, homiletic/hermeneutic, and secret.6 That the orchard contains all four parts of the Torah implies that it is impossible to truly be initiated into its secrets withoutstudyingthethreeotherstrata.7

Four: The Tree of Life

By the work of the Ramak and others on the Zohar many of its mysteries were revealed. Nonetheless, the deepest teachings and concepts could not be fathomed by the human mind alone if it were not inspired from above by the Almighty. The Holy Ari, the acronym for Rabbi Isaac ben Shlomo Luria, was the new soul8 sent from above and chosen torevealthese. TheAriarrived in theRamaks hometown, the holycity of Safed , onthesamedaythattheRamakpassedawayandwasbeingburied.9 Beyond having the intellectual skills and knowledge of his predecessors, the Ari merited to receive a completely new revelation of wisdom from Heaven. Though this new wisdom could be taught independently, the Ari chose to enclothe it as an interpretation of the Zohar, that is, to teach it in context of the language and style of the Zohar. The Aris teachings were then compiled into the text titled The Tree of Life (Eitz Chayim). So allinclusive and penetrating were the Aris teachings, that a student of Kabbalah who has not yet learnt the fifth level of Kabbalah, will tell you that the classic workforthestudyofKabbalahinourgenerationsisTheTreeofLife.

Spreading the Wisdom

The Arizal explains that as we approach the Messianic era it becomes critical that the study of Kabbalah be taught. In his words: it is a mitzvah [a commandment] to reveal this wisdom now. This is based on the statement of the Zohar that with this book [i.e., theZohar], we will comeout of their exile with mercy10). Meaning,that the study of the inner dimension of the Torah, as revealed in the Zohar, has the power to prevent the

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difficult traumatic events otherwise required for us to make the transition from our presentstateofconsciousnesstotheconsciousnessoftheMessianicera. EventhoughtheArizalwasthefirsttosaythatthetimehascomeforKabbalahtobe taught openly, nonetheless, there are still conditions placed upon those who desire to study the esoteric dimension of the Torah. On the part of the teacher it is indeed a mitzvah to reveal the hidden teachings, but only to those who are already worthy to integrate them into their lives. The description of what is required of an appropriate student is even outlined in the introduction to Eitz Chayim, The Tree of Life, the most basictextoftheArizalsKabbalah.

The Fifth Stage of Kabbalah: Chassidut

More than a century and a half after the Arizals statement that the time has come for Kabbalah to be revealed, the Baal Shem Tov (16981760) founded the Chassidic movement. As explained in length by one of the greatest Chassidic scholars, Rabbi Isaac of Homil (who was a disciple of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad branch of Chassidut, his son, Rabbi Dov Ber, and his grandson, the Tzemach Tzedek),the Baal Shem Tovsteachings in particular and Chassidut in general are a final tier of Kabbalah. They are a unique revelation of the Divine wisdom of Kabbalah in the sense that they form a new corpus of teachings that as a whole provide a deeper insight and a more advanced conceptual scheme than ever revealed before with which to understand and internalize the teachings of the Zohar and the Arizal. Chassidut is thus thefifthstageoftherevelationofKabbalah. But,theBaalShemTovsKabbalahisnotdifferentonlyinitsbreadthofexplanation; it is also wider in its scope. Whereas the Arizal still imposed limitations on who is worthytostudyKabbalah,theBaalShemTovadvocatedaradicallynewapproach.The Baal Shem Tov experienced an elevation of his soul to the dwelling place of the Mashiach in heaven, where the Mashiach revealed to him, that the redemption would occur once his [the Baal Shem Tovs] wellsprings of teaching would spread forth to the most remote extremes. Subsequently, the Baal Shem Tov explained that the most remote extremes specifically refers to those Jews who until now could not have been considered sanctified enough to study Kabbalah. Obviously, spreading the wellsprings ofKabbalahtotheseextremesmeansspecificallyaddressingeverysingleJew,regardless of level of observance or commitment to the Torah. Not only that, but even nonJews, who also require the wisdom of Kabbalah in order to participate in the redemption in a compassionateandmercifulmanner,shouldalsobeaddressedandtaughtthosepartsof the wisdom that pertain to them. This implies there really are no longer any conditions

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placed on the study of Kabbalah. Since all souls require this wisdom to rectify themselves, there is also no difference between genders. Until the coming of the MashiachitisourtasktodoallinourpowertospreadthewellspringsofChassidut,the fifthlevelofKabbalah.

Revealing the Concealed

It is important to mention that whenever we speak of new teachings we of course mean not that some new Torah has been given from God through someone, but rather that some righteous individual has merited revealing hidden parts of the Torah that werealwayspresentbutremained concealeduntilthatpointintime(for reasonsknown only to God, in His providence to bring creation and history to the utopian state for which the world was created). Those unique souls sent from Heaven at certain critical moments in history to reveal new dimensions of the Torah will of course never contradict or nullify any of the Torahs laws or teachings that had been revealed until thatpointintime. Rabbi Shneur Zalman, the found of Chabad, stated that there will not be a second giving of the Torah, meaning that all new teachings must always truly be founded on the Torah as it has been transmitted and developed from generation to generation. The Torah that was given by God at Mt. Sinai already contains all the new teachings and understandings of all the generations up to and including even the deepest revelations that will be taught by the Mashiach. In fact, the prophets clearly stated that just before the final revelations of the Torah by the Mashiach, prophecy will return to the Jewish people.Thepurposeofthisprophecyis,again,nottorevealanewTorah,butratherto preparethesoulsothatitcanintegratethedepthoftherevelationoftheTorahshidden teachingsastheywillberevealedbytheMashiach.

The Road to Prophecy

Let us now see how the 5 stages of the development of Kabbalah relate to the 5 aspects ofthesoul: *psychenefesh(naturalfaculties) *spiritruach(emotionalfaculties) *soulneshamah(mentalfaculties) *thelivingonechayah(superrationalfaculties) *thesingularoneyechidah(onewithGod)

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As mentioned, the 5 stages of Kabbalah constitute an unfolding of the Jewish consciousness. We find in the prophets that real prophecy will return to the Jewish people just before the final redemption. Essentially this is not only a sign of the coming redemption, it is also a prerequisite. As we mentioned in the beginning, Kabbalah is actually the unification of wisdom with prophecy and is what prepares the Jewish peopleforthereturnofprophecy. The first text, Sefer Yetzirah, talks about the different phenomena of nature (the seasons, the days of the week, the planets, the human body, etc.) and corresponds them with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, thus it corresponds with the revelation of the natural,psyche(nefesh)aspectofthesoul. The second text, the Zohar, when stripped of the deep contemplative explanations offered on this text by the later stages and read at face value, has the special power to arouse the spirit (ruach) of the soul. As stated by one of the Rebbes of Chabad, asa text, there is nothing like the Zohar to arouse a persons emotions. Of course, the spirit aspect ofthesoulincludestheemotionalfaculties. The Kabbalists of the third stage, epitomized by the Ramak and his work, sought to usetheirmentalfacultiestocomprehendtheinnermysteriesoftheZohar.Thisstagewas continuallyunderscoredbyJudaismsgreatestphilosophicaltext,MaimonidesGuideto the Perplexed. The ideal was to unify the Zohars esoteric wisdom with the Jewish philosophical tradition; to unite Kabbalah with Jewish philosophy. The neshamah aspect of the soul11 contains its mental faculties, which unfolded and reached an apex during thisstage. The new revelation of the Arizal taxes the minds faculties to the limit, but more importantlyitchallengesthesoultogobeyondthemindsrationalapproach.Itsessence is superrational, though the Arizal did present this essence in intellectual terms. Unlike reading the Zohar which leads to an emotional experience, reading the Eitz Chayim requires a deep intellectual endeavor, which still leaves a sense of being something beyond the intellect. Thus the Arizals Kabbalah serves to unfold the level of souls aspect of chayah. The chayah is described as having the quality of touching/not touching;ithoverseversocloselytoourmind,yetalwayseludesit. The final revelation is known in Chassidic tradition as the soul of the Kabbalah of the Arizal, or the soul of the soul of the Torah. The classic text of Chassidut is the Tanya,writtenbyRabbiShneurZalmanofLiadi.Oneofthemostimportantteachingsin the Tanya is that the Jewish soul is an actual part of God.12 Though this thought appears in earlier Kabbalistic texts (in various formulations),13 it was never stated so unequivocally and had not yet formed the basis for an entire conceptual scheme as it

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does in the Tanya. What this statement says is that we have an eternal continual connection withGod,andthateveryactionthatwedoreflectstheessenceoftheDivine. ChassidutthusrevealsthelevelofDivinitybeforetheinitialcontractionofGodsinfinite light that allowed the creation of finite reality; Chassidut thus reveals the infinite capacity of the Jewish soul. In order to understand how novel a revelation this is, the Arizal did not expound regarding the stages that came before the initial contraction. It was left to Chassidut to reveal and unfold these stages, in virtue of the fact that the essence of our Divine soul was indeed there. Chassidut is revealing a pristine, unconsciousmemoryofthesoulbeforecreation. When a new disciple would come to the Baal Shem Tov, the first question he was asked was what do you remember? The Baal Shem Tov was jingling the deepest levelsofthenewdisciplessoulpreparinghimforthestudyofChassidut.IntheArizals Kabbalah there was also memory triggering but it involved recollecting ones previousincarnations,whichofcoursedonotrevealthesoulsexistenceasitwasbefore the creation of the world, when it was still an actual part of God, the yechidah, the singularityaspectofthesoul. aspectofthesoul psyche(nefesh) spirit(ruach) soul(neshamah) livingone(chayah) centraltext SeferYetzirah Zohar EitzChayim develops understandingofnaturalworld emotionalrealm superrationalundersanding onenesswithGod

PardesRimonim intellectualfaculties

singularone(yechidah) Tanya

Seeing the Future

AwellknownChassidicstoryillustratesthispointwell: After the Maggid of Mezheritch passed away (the Maggid was the Baal Shem Tovs successor), the disciples each looked for a Rebbe to follow. The eldest of the disciples was Rebbe Menacham Nachum of Chernobyl. Rebbe Shneur Zalman, the founder of Chabad, did not follow his close friend Rebbe Nachum, but instead looked to Rebbe MenachemMendelofVitebskforguidance.RebbeShneurZalmanandRebbeNachum wouldvisitoneanotheronceayearonSukot. Ononeofthosevisits,whentheyweresittinganddiscussingthedeepmysteriesofthe Torah in the sukah, Rebbe Nachum asked Rebbe Shneur Zalman: Why did you take RebbeMenachemMendelasyourRebbeandnotme?

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Rebbe Shneur Zalman replied: I once saw him when he was giving audience and I realized that everything that the person seeking his council had done in his life was knowntohim. RebbeNachumshruggedasiftosaythathetoosawpastactions. Rebbe Shneur Zalman continued: I then realized that not only could he see all his actions in this present lifetime, he also was aware of all of the persons previous incarnationssincethesixdaysofcreations. RebbeNachumshruggedagain. Finally, Rebbe Shneur Zalman said: In the end I realized that not only could he see his past actions and past incarnations, he could also see everything that this soul was destinedforinthefutureuntilthecomingoftheMashiachandafter. At that moment Rabbi Nachum raised his brows in wonder, thereby acknowledging Rabbi Shneur Zalmans choice of a Rebbe, but the conversation abruptly ended, as the Chassidim,whohadbeenintentlylisteningtotheholywordsofthetwotzadikimfrom ontopofthesukah,suddenlymovedandwereheard.

Everything thata person has done in his lifetime up to the present moment, in deed, word, and thought, corresponds to the first three levels of the soul: nefesh, ruach and neshamah.ThesewereapparenttotheKabbalistsbeforetheArizal. Pastincarnations,whichtheArizalfocusedon,correspondtothechayahaspectofthe soul. But,inordertoseeasoulsdestinyinthefuture,itisnecessarytoseethesoulasitis an actual part of God, for whom past, present, and future all exist at once. The ability of Rebbe Menachem Mendel to see a persons yechidah was what convinced Rebbe Shneur Zalmantoseekhisguidance. aspectofthesoul livingone singularone pastincarnations futuredestiny sees psyche,spirit,andsoul pastactions(deeds,words,andthoughts)

The Dangers of Kabbalah

ThefirstthingthatoneshouldaskbeforelearningKabbalahiswhatisthecorrectwayto do this without endangering oneself due to the highly energetic (psychological) and consciousness altering (spiritual) power of this part of the Torah. Past experience provides many examples of people who lost their mind, or were psychologically hurt fromstudyingKabbalahinaninappropriatemanner.Mostoftheseindividualswerenot entirely stable to begin with. Nonetheless, there is no question that the improper study ofKabbalahcontributedtosomeextenttotheirpsychologicalbreakdown.

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In our generation, this is less frequent, because those people who are not psychologically stable usually seek professional help of some sort and are in some kind of treatment program. Nonetheless, while many of the psychological dangers are no longersomuchofanissue,spiritualdangersstillexist.Thespiritualdangersthatweare speaking of are of the type that place a persons spiritual and consequently physical wellbeinginjeopardy.

Kabbalah Is a Part of the Torah as a Whole

The first danger lies in the notion that it is possible to study Kabbalah without performing commandments (mitzvot). The Jewish people received the Torah at Mt. Sinai on the basis of their declaration We will do and we will understand.14 Action creates vessels, while understanding brings light, or soul into these vessels. It is important to know that the ultimate purpose for which God created the world was the formation of vessels, by living a good life by emulating Godthe essence of the Torah and its 613 commandmentsforJewsand7commandmentsforhumanity. The attempt to have mystical experiences or even prophetic experiences without creating the proper vessels to contain them is hazardous, because it is like creating a soul without a body. Most times these experiences themselves are simply illusory, and thereisnothingbutthepersonsimaginationatwork.But,iftheydobecomerealthenin essencetheyaretheequivalentofdeath,becausethatisessentiallywhatasoulwithout a body is. The importance of creating vessels parallels the importance that the Torah places on life. In this sense, the Torahs commandments give life,15 that is, they make lifepossiblebyformingthevesselsintowhichthesoulenters. The Torah tells us of great souls, like the two eldest sons of Aaron (Moses brother, and the High Priest) Nadav and Avihu, who were deeply immersed in the most profoundmysteriesoftheDivine,yet,becausetheydidnot performacommandmentof God, perished while serving in the Tabernacle.16 In Kabbalah, their mistake is described as an overly enthusiastic run to God, without the anchor provided by the proper performance of commandments that allows the person to remain grounded, even while transcending to the highest levels of spirituality. This is the essence of the first danger: without being properly grounded through the performance of mitzvot, a person can easilylosetouchwithreality. We mentioned that from the time of the Baal Shem Tov, the study of the inner dimension of the Torah became permissible and even necessary for everyone, men and women alike. This is especially true of Kabbalah as it appears at its highest level of revelation, in Chassidut. Kabbalah as manifest in Chassidut is a must for all. The

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Lubavitcher Rebbe writes that the permissibility and advisability of studying Kabbalah as it appears in the Arizals Eitz Chayim depends on the level of yearning that each particularpersonhasforthistypeofstudy.Inordertosafelyenterintoanddepartfrom the figurative orchard, the pardes,17 it is necessary to be well protected from overly powerful energy and wellgrounded in reality through a serious commitment to the entireTorah. The teacher must never give the false conception that commitment to the Torah as a whole is not required by someone wishing to learn Kabbalah. Nonetheless, the teacher hastoknowhowtofulfilltheBaalShemTovslegacythateventhoseJewswhoare still far from the Torah study this wisdom, even though many Jews who have grown up distantfromtheToraharenotinitiallywillingtotakeonthecommitmentofperforming commandments.TherealteacherofKabbalahhastoknowhowtoproperlytaketherisk of bringing someone who is not yet ready to commit to the Torah as a whole closer to theTorah.

Real, Knowledgeable, and Inner Teachers

Real: The second danger involves who one chooses to learn Kabbalah from. Even if a person is willing to live according to the Torah as part of the study of Kabbalah, he or shemaynonethelessbereceivingwisdomfromaninauthenticsource. Let us give some examples of false sources. If you go to see some socalled kabbalist and he starts performing all kinds of calculations on your name (and your spouses name) and his conclusion is that either your name is no good and has to be changed, or you are not a good match for your spouse, then you can be a hundredpercent certain that this person is a charlatan. You would do best to keep as far away as possible from someone like this. The Arizal impressed upon us that in our generations there is no longeranyneedfor,orlegitimacyinusingpracticalKabbalah.18 Knowledgeable: Secondly, there are many teachers who though they may mean well, are actually ignorant when it comes to the rest of the Torah. Because their knowledge of the revealed part of the Torah is so lacking, they cannot possible fully understand its concealed facets; consequently, whether consciously or unconsciously, theyteachincorrectknowledge.19 Inner:Finally,anevenmoresubtleflawregardingthesourceofoneslearningisthat many of the teachers teaching today only understand the external aspects of Kabbalah. The largest part of the Arizals teachings is based on the distinction between external and internal aspects of things.20 Even someone who knows the Torah and knows Kabbalah, may be wholly lacking an inner understanding of them. Inner understanding

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refers to beingable to not only intellectuallyunderstandthe meaning of the teachingsof Kabbalah, but rather, as explained in length in Chassidut, to be able to experience them inarectifiedandholymanner.AnauthenticteacherofKabbalahunderstandsandrelays to his students that Kabbalah is not referring solely to external reality. Recognizing a teacher who understands the wisdom of Kabbalah in an inner manner is dependent on thestudentssensitivitytotruth. The previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, said something very importantinthisrespect.Ifapersongetsusedtolookingattheworldexternally,itruins hisorherabilitytolateracquireaninnerpointofvieworperspective.Itisasthoughthe externalperspectivedoessomekindofmentalorspiritualdamagetotheDivinesoul. To explain this flaw a bit more, we may use the statement of the sages that a woman forms a bond only with the first man who makes her into a vessel (i.e., that she is intimate with).21A teacherof theTorahis called a Rav. Ateacher of the innerdimension of the Torah is called a Rebbe (with an additional Hebrew letter yud, at the end). The relationshipbetweenastudentandateacherofKabbalahislikethatbetweenawifeand her husband. Thus, like a woman, you create a bond or intellectual covenant with the first teacher who inspires you with the teachings of Kabbalah. It is hard to break this bondnotentirelyimpossible,butverydifficult.

Kabbalah and Chassidut

The third danger is to study Kabbalah in our generation without Chassidut. As explained above, the fifth stage of the revelation of the wisdom of Kabbalah is Chassidut. From the time that Chassidut was revealed it is the preferential form in which to study this wisdom. Kabbalah must be studied from the original texts as well, but always with the inspiration and highest sources that Chassidut gives and reveals. TheBaalShemTovexplainedthatevenwhentheclassictextsofKabbalah(thatpredate Chassidut)are studied with a heart forinner understanding,nonetheless, because of the coarseness of the human mind, the teachings may be misinterpreted and the result may beananthropomorphizingoftheAlmighty(). The teachings of Kabbalah especially in the texts of the Arizal, involve a personification of the Divine. The Divine is described by an entire sequence of interlocking personas (partzufim). The only way to avoid a misunderstanding of this personificationistostudyKabbalahwithChassidut.Forexample,evenwithoutgoingas far as the Arizals personas of the Divine, we can take the secret of the contraction (the tzimtzum), which is the first thing taught in Eitz Chayim, the Arizals central work. If, God forbid a person understands this secret literally they may think that God is not

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omnipresent in reality; that somehow God has left the earth22 and receded from it. Only by studying the teachings of Chassidut are we convinced that the contraction of Gods light should not be understood as literal, but as a metaphor. The correct way to interpretthisteachingcanbeunderstoodonlybystudyingChassidut.

Submission, Separation, Sweetening

These three dangers correspond to the basic model of psychological change introduced by the Baal Shem Tov. The three stages of this model are known as submission, separation,andsweetening. The stage of submission corresponds to the first danger, because to overcome it one has to submissively acknowledge that action must come before understanding and that in order to study Kabbalah there must be a commitment to the Torah as a whole, just liketheJewishpeopledidasawholeatMt.Sinai. The stage of separation involves distancing oneself from a nonauthentic teacher of Kabbalah. The final stage of sweetening corresponds to the sweetness of studying Kabbalah in our generation as it should be studied with the inspiration offered by the teachings of theBaalShemTov.
. Dimensionless means that this number is not a measure of any quantity, for example: distance (meters) or time (seconds) or energy (joules), etc., or a ratio between units (like speed: meterspersecond,etc.). 2.E.g.,thefather(Abba)andmother(Ima)principles/figuresmentionedearlier. 3. Of course, all of these figures/personas are created entities emanated by God during creation;theyarenotapartofGodHimself. 4.OtherMidrashictextsincludetheHalachic(legal)midrashimlike theMechilta(onthebook ofExodus),ToratCohanimorSifra(on thebook ofLeviticus),Sifrei(on thebooksofNumbersand Deuteronomy).Amongthehomileticmidrashim(somecontainingcontentsimilartotheZohar)are theTanchumah,MidreashRabbah,PirkeiDerabbiEliezer,ShocherTov,andothers. 5.Proverbs15:23.SeealsoJob3:11:Godhasmadeeverythinginitspropertime. 6. In Hebrew, pardes is spelled: . Pei () stands for pshat (literal); reish () stands for remez(allusive);dalet()standsfordrush(homiletic/hermeneutic);andsamech()standsforsod. 7. It is just as important to note that if the secret part of the Torah is missing from ones study,thentheacronymbecomestheHebrewwordpered(),whichmeansseparate.Without the inner soul of the Torah, even the most dedicated student may remain separate from God, the giverandthesourceoftheTorah. 8. In Kabbalah, a new soul is one that was not contained within Adam and therefore did not partake of the primordial sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Because every human being is actually a mosaic of souls, and most if not all of these were contained
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within Adam, the Ari, like all human beings cursed with death, eventually did pass away. For a more indepth explanation, see Tzadik Yesod Olam in Harav Ginsburghs Hebrew volume Leiv Ladaat,p.136. 9. The Ari later reported that he had seen the pillar of fire that rose above the Ramaks body during the funeral. Ineach generation, there is one individualwho merits seeing the pillar of fire rising above the body of the demised leader of the previous generation. In seeing it, that individual is appointed by Heaven to become the leader of his generation. The Jewish leader of everygenerationiscalledtheMosheRabbeinuofthegeneration. 10.ZoharIII:124b 11. In the study of the Torah, it is common that a particular aspect of a composite entity is named for the entity as a whole. In this case, neshamah, the third aspect of the soul, is normally translated into English as soul. Neshamah can also be translated as breath (derived from the Hebrew word, ) and based on the verse God breathed into him the breath () of life (Genesis2:7),whichcanalsobetranslatedasGodbreathedintohimthesouloflife. 12.Beginningofchapter2. 13. Most notably by the author of the Kabbalistic work Shefa Tal, Rabbi Shabtai Sheftel Horowitz. 14.Exodus24:7 15.Leviticus18:5. 16.Ibid.10. 17. The Hebrew word pardes (), which means orchard, is an acronym for the names of the four parts of the Torah: pshat, the simple meaning of the text; remez, the hints and allusions within the text; drush, the derivative implications of the text arrived at by way of hermeneutic rules; and sod, the symbolic and esoteric meaning of the text. (Kabbalistic interpretations are consideredpartofthesodlevel). 18. Rabbi Chayim Vital, the Arizals foremost student, wrote on this prohibition in length in hisbookShaareiKedushah(GatesofHoliness). 19. The revealed teachings of the Torah (like the Talmud) are based on rational thought. The concealed facets like Kabbalah (especially as it appears in the Arizals writings) are based on superrational insight. Above we explained that the rational level of study precedes the super rational level just as neshamah (the souls intelligence) precedes chayah (the living ones super rationalinsights). 20.EitzChayim,ShaarPnimiyutVechitzoniyut(Gate40). 21.Sanhedrin22b. 22.Ezekiel8:12.

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